Thursday, August 23, 2007

My dad decided to have a last minute vacation to Mexico City, if anyone was wondering. And in an attempt to make it a REAL vacation, I left my laptop at home.

Y la gastronomia? (the food?)

Well, I didn't really eat in an actual restaurant much seeing how there is so many artisans vending truly comida casera(homemade street food.) From purple corn Tlayudas, a kind of Gordita stuffed with either lard seasoned pureed fava or pinto beans and topped with stewed nopal strips (cactus strips), mesquite grilled fresh ears of corn sold off of carts with little bbq's on them or even smoked sweet potatoe's sweetened with Pilloncillo (brown sugar). And of course the occasional chapulin(grasshoper) here and there.

But when I did decide to eat out...I ate out, in Elago of Chapultepec. Apparently, Mexico's most expensive restaurant! (should of done more research!). The food was....well...sadly overlooked. It is more a case of lexury, extreme lexury might I add (For the first time, I truly felt out of place here; my scraggly, long haired self in a restaurant of that stature). The plate of Barracuda Tikin-Xac(Barracuda marinated with Achiote and Roasted in a Banana Leaf) was definetely not worth the 2+ hour expedition it took rummaging the forest of Chapultepec for it, the Chilaquliles Dulces were interesting though.

Tao on the other hand was a whole different strory. Mexico's only fully Macrobiotic establishment, the japanese style and all. I thought I had that whole "enjoy every morsel of food" thing down, but then I came here-the relaxing japanese music, the low Kotatsu tables just inches away from my face, the different courses of TOOTHSOME healthy food, not "cardboard" -easily my new favorite restaurant at the moment. Especially for that chewy, Pastel de Higo (Fig Cake), incorporating both fresh and dried figs for t that perfect texture and sweetness.